Retracing the Footsteps Of Love
by Itachilova101
Summary: After Sasuke left Konoha for Orochimaru, Sakura gives up on love. Then, she meets the person she least expected to ever see. At first, she hates his mother lovin' guts, but can love, eventually, happen twice in one lifetime?
1. Mission

Retracing the Footsteps Of Love

Itachilova101

Summary: After Sasuke left Konoha for Orochimaru, Sakura gives up on love. Then, she meets the person she least expected to ever see. At first, she hates his mother lovin' guts, but can love, eventually, happen twice in one lifetime? Very bad at summaries...

Disclaimer: Me + Naruto No own! (Please apply to all chapters!)

A/N: Yet another fanfiction of mine! Please enjoy! If you likey, please review, but if no likey, no flames, please!

Haruno Sakura walked through Konoha, alone. She enjoyed the solitude. It gave her time to think about everything that was bugging her at the time. Usually, she only thought of Uchiha Sasuke.

This day, was no exception...

"Thank you," he'd told her. "Annoying," he'd called her... Nothing about Sasuke and his leaving made sense! Why would he want to thank her and call her annoying at the same time? Maybe he was thanking her for annoying her? That was very doubtful... Wait, forget the annoying part. Why would he want to thank her at all?

She no longer harboured feeling for love or an afinity for the Uchiha heir. Her feelings toward him were more similar to hatred, hostility. If she were to never see him again, it would be too soon.

"Haruno Sakura?" asked a man from behind her.

"Yes," she answered, turning to face the man who'd called her name.

"Hokage-sama would like to speak to you in her office immediately," he told her, bowing to her and taking his leave.

She did a transportation jutsu and appeared in the doorway of Tsunade's office. "You wished to speak to me, Shishou?"

She gave a greeting look to all the others in the room: What was left of the Rookie-Nine along with Neji and Tenten. They all returned her looks with a nod.

"Ah, yes, Sakura," Tsunade said, trying to look and sound upbeat.

"Uh, what's with the good mood?"

Naruto stood and whispered in her ear, "I think she's quit drinking and got herself a crack addiction... Sure makes her a lot more tolerant..."

"I heard that!" snapped Tsunade, throwing an eraser at Naruto's head.

"Ow!" whined Naruto, "That hurt!"

She shook her head and told the group, "I have a very important, A-ranked mission for you all. You must find and capture three shinobi of Akatsuki. Their names are: Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame and Deidara. You must bring them here alive."

"Alive?" repeated Shikamaru. "Aren't we usually supposed to kill a very strong opponent on the spot to save time and trouble?"

"Yes, that's what usually happens, but, this time, it's going to be different. We need these three for questioning. That's the whole point of the mission. Then, after we've gotten what we want from them, they'll be executed."

Everybody nodded.

"Once you've brought them all here, nine of the ten of you, which means three people per prisoner, will be in charge of supervising them. The way that will work is as so: Naruto, Kiba and Sakura will watch over Deidara. The people watching over Uchiha Itachi are: Neji, Hinata and Tenten. Finally, Ino, Shino and Shikamaru will watch over Hoshigaki Kisame."

_'Yet another mission where I'll be the only girl in my team...' _thought Sakura cynically.

"What about Chouji?" asked Ino. "Shouldn't he have to watch over one of them too?"

"Oh, no, that's okay!" Chouji said, looking a bit afraid. "If she doesn't want me to, I won't..."

"Fine, Chouji will watch over Itachi, as well."

Chouji dropped his head in disappointment.

"You will all be staying in an apartment close to my office. Each team will be assigned to a room on different floors. The groups will share one room."

_'I have to share a room with both Naruto and Kiba?' _Sakura thought, depressed. _'Great, three males to one female... There's too much testosterone in these damn missions...'_

"Oh, and one more tidbit of informaition." Tsunade said with a smirk. "It has come to my attention that the Akatsuki are pursuing Uchiha Itachi for his sharingan. Just a little motivation for-"

"WHAT!" yelled both Naruto and Sakura.

_'I'm going to be the one to kill Sasuke!' _thought Sakura, glaring at the wall behind Tsunade.

_'I won't let them kill Sasuke! I have to bring him back!' _Naruto thought, glaring at the same wall.

Everybody felt the tenseness grow in the room. It was to be expected when that name was mentioned before Sakura and Naruto...

"You'll be leaving in-"

"LET'S GO!" yelled the two, interrupting Tsunade once again.

"Will you two stop interruptingm me!" Tsunade exclaimed. "You'll be leaving in seven days."

"Dismissed." Tsunaade said, waving her dismissal.

Everybody left the office. Sakura headed toward the training ground to train for her upcoming mission with Hinata, Ino and Tenten.

* * *

One week later, the ten shinobi met at the Konoha border a quarter to five in the morning. When everybody was accounted for, they put on a very small ear piece with an even smaller mic.

"Okay, for the mic to work, we have to push the button on the ear piece and keep holding it until we've finished speaking. We'll split up into our assigned groups and begin our search. Once group has found the base, notify us immediately." Shikamaru stated.

Everybody nodded and the three groups separated to search for their targets.

It wasn't going to be easy for any of them to find this place. All of them had been all over in so many different countries and never noticed their base, so they had to be even more watchful while searching.

"Man, it would've been so much easier if we had Hinata on our team..." Kiba stated.

Naruto began to brag about how Hinata was his girlfriend and not Kiba's. He always seemed to be quite proud of that.

"That's not what I meant, Dumbass." Kiba exclaimed, shaking his head at Naruto. "All I meant was that her Byakugan would be useful in times like this..."

"Yea, it would be, but we've got to make due without." Sakura said. "Besides, Hinata and Neji both have Byakugan. So, they'll proably find the base."

They continued to run and run for hours on end.

By about six-thirty in the evening, they made it into familiar territory. They were just outside of Wind Country.

"We should take a break." Sakura said, panting. "We need to keep up our chakra."

Both Naruto and Kiba looked winded and tired. They both flopped onto the ground and pantted.

"Role Call." Shikamaru's voice sounded on the receiver.

"Team Haruno here." Sakura said panting.

"Team Hyuga here." Neji said.

"Okay, where you you?" asked Shikamaru.

"It looks like we're about one hundred kilometeres from lightening country." Neji answered.

"We're just outside Wind."

"We're nearing Sound right now."

"Heh, gonna go beat the shit out of Sasuke while you're there?" asked Kiba.

"This is not time for jokes, Inuzuka." Shikamaru chastised.

"Yea, yea, whatever. Who died and made you boss, anyway?"

Shikamaru said, "if I was over there and I wasn't so tired, I'd beat the shit out of you. This is-"

"Such a drag?" asked Naruto, chuckling.

Shikamaru didn't reply, but they knew he was probably cursing like mad...

* * *

A/N: Well, that's chapter one! Please leave a review, but no flames, please! 


	2. Waiting

To Fall in Love Twice

Itachilova101

Ch. 2

A/N: Thank you to WhiteWingedAngel, to AkatsukiDreamer, to TheDevilsAngel, to AyameIris, to manialoll stands on chakra and to the reviewer whom I remember seeing in quite a few of my stories as a reviewer, Hanyou2005! XD Okay, chapter 2...

Sakura, Naruto and Kiba all sat on the ground, alone. They were deciding on where they should travel to next.

It was now close to midnight and they'd rested for a while, ate, slept. They were all ready to go...

"What about that way?" asked Naruto, pointing west.

"If we travel that way, we'll find a whole load of nothing." Sakura answered.

"Well, what about North?"

"That would take us to Earth Country." Kiba said.

"I think the bases are situated outside of random countries, so we shouldn't go into the countries, but we can scout around the country." Sakura said.

The men nodded and the three of them took off in the direction of Earth Country.

* * *

After running for a few hours longer, Sakura and her team were just south of Earth Country. They estimated they were about three hundred metres from the border and decided to start scouting around the country. 

"I know what's ahead." Sakura said as they ran. "We're not going to find them if we go this way. All that's this way is that old, abandoned military... base... THAT'S IT!"

"What's it?" asked Naruto. "Okay, I've missed something..."

Kiba told him, "the abandoned military base might be where some of the Akatsuki are..."

Sakura told them, "I've done some research on the Akatsuki... All of Akatsuki is split up into partners. Those partners are based all over the shinobi countries. Once every few months, they meet at one of the bases and discuss their progress with certain missions they were put on. If my calculations are correct, they're due for a meeting. So, we might just find all of Akatsuki... There."

"That's a good thing, right?" asked Naruto.

"More like bitter-sweet, Naruto." answered Sakura. "It's good because we'll have all three of our targets in one general area and that'll make it easier for us to capture them... But, if all of Akatsuki is there, we're going to have a long, dangerous battle on our hands."

She pressed the button on her ear-piece and said, "Nara, this is Team Haruno. I think we have found the base. I repeat, I think we've found the base! How fast can you get here?"

"Where are you now?"

"About south-west of Earth Country. Where are you?"

"Heh, far enough that it's going to take at least three days to get there." answered Ino cynically.

"Great..." Naruto commented only to his group. "Do we just go in there and get them ourselves?"

"Yes, Naruto, we will go in there, kill every member of Akatsuki but the guys we need and won't die." answered Kiba sarcastically. "What do you think!"

"It was just a question!" snapped Naruto.

"WILL YOU TWO SHUT THE HELL UP!!!" yelled Sakura. "I'm trying to think!"

Both men did as told and shut the hell up.

"Okay, sit tight for now." Shikamaru said. "Take a break, gain back your strength and chakra so you have a better chance of surviving. You can do what you can once you've rested up, but we'll try to be there ASAP."

"Alright."

With that, they stopped their contact and they were on their own until they restarted.

"Well, we'd best get out of this place." Sakura stated. "Let's go somewhere relatively safe for now so we can rest up."

The men agreed and they left the area.

* * *

Hours had passed. The three jonin were still beat. They laid in the shade. They were in a wooded area, so couldn't easily be seen... Yet. Of course, if somebody came looking for them, they would find them. But, they felt fairly certain that they were safe. 

Still, they'd have to move to another spot soon, just to keep their safety a definite.

"And I thought it was tough when I was training with the Pervy Sage." Naruto commented.

Sakura chuckled, half asleep. "Well, you're in for a rude awakening when we fight the Akatsuki."

"... What was that Sasori-dude like?" asked Kiba.

Sakura's smile feel and she opened her eyes. She looked up to the sky as she answered, "I didn't know much about him, but he was a puppet master and worked with poisons, too. Deidara looked up to him and... That's all I know."

The look on Sakura's face made the two men wonder whether she felt proud that she had killed one of the Akatsuki.

"He may have been a killer. He may have been Akatsuki, but he was still a living being. I really don't want to take lives. I want to save them... That's why I became a medic-nin... Why am I still taking lives, then?"

"Because it's neccessary." answered Kiba.

"It's never neccessary to take a life." Sakura corrected. "Never."

The area was then filled with an empty silence. One that wasn't awkward, but wasn't comfortable, either. It was just... Empty.

Sakura stood and stretched. "I hink we should move to a new location for now."

"Uh, right." replied Naruto.

The two men stood and they moved to a new location a ways away from where they just were.

* * *

"Okay, we've waited as long as we could." Sakura said. "We've got to go in there now."

The two men nodded in agreement.

"There's only one question I have to ask you." she told them, an impassive look on her face.

"Yea?" asked Naruto. "What is it?"

Her look turned to one of fear as she asked, "... Which one of you is willing to go in there so I don't have to?"

Naruto and Kiba gave eachother a glance and took one of her arms each. They practically had to drag her into the Akatsuki base, but they got her in there.

She eventually gained her bearings and went back to being impassive. The mission... Had now begun.

* * *

A/N: Well, that's chapter two! Please review!


	3. Capture

Retracing The Footsteps Of Love

Itachilova101

A/N: Okay, so thank you to Talleh, Kakashi'skutie, Lady Blade WarAngel, TheDevilsAngel93, Hanyou2005 and to JadeXOnyx-4ever for the reviews!

* * *

Sakura, Kiba and Naruto snuck into the Akatsuki base and quietly ran through the empty hallways of the building. 

Sakura whispered, "remember, take down anybody that gets in our way. Our target is Deidara."

The men nodded.

Voices could be heard. They were coming from behind two large doors. They seemed to be talking about the Jinchuuriki (sp?).

"Ready?" asked Sakura.

"I was born ready." Kiba answered, not looking too confident.

She took out a kunai, Kiba and Akamaru swallowed their soldier pills and Naruto made several clones of himself.

They burst through the doors and looked into the faces of the Akatsuki. None of them seemed surprised in the least. Most of them were smirking. Except for one or two who had masks over their faces. They were probably smirking, too because all the cool bad guys have to smirk...

"Ah, it's the little bitch that killed Sasori..." commented one of them.

Sakura smirked, though she was cowering inside. "Now it's time to finish the job..."

She raised the kunai and asked, "are you ready to meet your maker, Boys?"

Many of them chuckled.

The three ran toward the nine and fought them with everything they had. Everytime Sakura tried to make a move for Deidara, though, somebody else always got in her way.

After what seemed like hours of nonstop fighting, which it probably was, the others came into the fight. This made the fight slightly easier.

Finally, after a few more hours, everybody, but their targets, were down for the count. Unfortunately, the hardest part was still to come. Ten injured shinobi would fight against men of such status as their's.

All of a sudden, Naruto ran at the S-Class criminals.

"Naruto! Stop!" yelled Sakura, fearing for her comrade's life.

Deidara caught the fist thrown at him in ease. Itachi moved to attack the blonde haired shinobi, but was stopped by the other blonde."It's okay, Itachi-san, yea. I want to take care of my new friend, yea."

So, Itachi stood down and watched with faint interest.

"L-Let go!" yelled Naruto, trying to pull his fist from Deidara's hand.

He smirked and replied, "alright, yea." He pushed Naruto's fist easily and watched as he flew a few feet from him and crashed into a table.

He was out...

Sakura's eyes widened. She looked to Kiba, who nodded to her. She ran to Naruto as he and the rest of the teams ran at the three Akatsuki.

"Naruto! Naruto!" she called. "Come on, Naruto! Wake up!"

She felt a chakra from behind her and turned to see Deidara towering over her. She scowled and stood.

Before she could realize what had happened, she'd hit the wall, winded. She looked up into the face of Deidara. He was smirking at her. Shakily, she stood and coughed up a small bit of blood.

While she coughed, he hit her again.

She wasn't going to give up. She was going to do this. For Naruto!

"Heh... You thought you could beat me, Girl? You were wrong, yea. You're too weak..."

_'Weak... Weak... Weak...' _the simple word echoed in her mind. It rememnded her of Sasuke and everything he'd done to her. A new burst of ferocity and hatred flowed through her vains and she felt her pain subside. She stood and began to fight back.

* * *

It took a while, but Sakura and Kiba were able to knock Deidara out. She hauled Naruto over her shoulder while Kiba had Deidara.

They ran through the halls and tried to find their way out. They had to find their way and meet the others outside. That's what Shikamaru said, anyway...

"So, what now?" asked Kiba.

"Uh..."

"Well?"

"Let me think..."

"Dammit... We have to hep them..."

"No, we have to do as Shikamaru said and wait for them outside. They can handle themselves."

Kiba stayed silent and they got outside and put the two blondes on the ground.

* * *

Inside the building, Shikamaru had done his shadow possesion jutsu on Kisame and told Ino to do her jutsu. She did as told and he caught her limp body. A smirk creased his face and he released the jutsu. His plan was working.

"Kisame, go find the kunoichi." he heard Itachi command.

"Uh, yea... I-I mean, yes, Itachi-san." _Kisame _replied.

_'Great, now Ino has to become scared of Itachi...' _

* * *

"So, how do we know they'll be fine?" asked Kiba.

"Ino used her Mind Transfer Jutsu." answered Sakura.

"But, can't Itachi see through any jutsu?"

"Yea, but Kisame won't be able to help him, so Itachi'll be massively outnumbered."

"Don't worry, Kiba. We'll be fine unless-"

Kisame came running out the door of the building, swinging Samehada aroundlie a play-thing.

"That happens?" asked Kiba.

"Sakura!" yelled Kisame. "I'm a Fish-Dude!"

"False alarm." stated the pink-haired kunoichi. "It's Ino-chan."

"I have to travel like this so that we don't have to carry him..."

Shikamaru came out, carrying her body. "Will you shut up, already?"

"Hey! Be careful with my body!"

Shikamaru dropped the body on the ground. "This is getting troublesome. Let's just get out of here once the others get their asses out here, okay?" He sat on the ground and sulked.

The others got out of the building and they all stood. Then, they all headed out.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so sorry for the shortness! Please leave a review! Lubz yall!


	4. Voice

Retracing The Footsteps Of Love

Itachilova101

Ch. 4

A/N: WOOT! Thanks to Hanyou2005, TheDevilsAngel93, darkygirl, Izenofcrazypie, manialoll stands on chakra and to Lady Blade WarAngel for the great reviews!!!

* * *

Sakura lay in her cot in her apartment she shared with Naruto and Deidara. Kiba was in a seperate room due to lack of room and cots. She was still waiting for Deidara to wake up so she could get the hell out of this place! 

It had been three days! Three days since she'd breathed fresh air! Damn men and sleeping so much when they get knocked out!

She managed to do a binding jutsu on her captive. Now, the two couldn't be more than fifteen feet from eachother.

This jutsu was fairly simple, but very strong. All she had to do was direct some of her chakra into his shoulder and do a few one-handed signs. Also, this jutsu would protect her from him killing her. If he was to attack her and, God forbid, kill her, the jutsu would cause him to die, as well.

She twirled a mini kunai on one of her fingers as she watched his eye lids flutter open.

"'Bout time you woke up..." she commented. "Nice of you to rejoin the living..."

He groaned and held his pounding head. He looked around. "Where am I, yea? Why does my head hurt?"

She explained everything to him. All about the battle, his capture, how she bound him to her.

"Heh, a fangirl. Sorry, Pinky, I don't give out autographs, yea." Deidara told her, smirking as he sat up.

Sakura glared at him. "First off, my name is not Pinky. You may call me Haruno. Second, get over yourself. As if I'd go for a guy that's as psycho as you are..."

"Heh..." he smirked, then looked pained. He fell onto his back and held his shoulder. "Why does it hurt, yea!"

"The jutsu... The slightest thought of you killing me will set it off." she answered, smirking.

He cursed loudly, immediately regretting it. His head was pounding even louder now.

She giggled like a child. "You're funny!"

He gave her look that said, "fuck you!"

"So... This binding jutsu will keep you and I within a fifteen foot radius."

"I didn't know you wanted me that badly, yea."

"Ugh, it's so you don't escape, so calm your hormones before I decide to make sure you don't have a good time with any girl ever again..."

He stayed silent.

"We need you until we've finished questioning you, then, I guess, fate will work it's magic..."

"What do you mean by that, yea?"

She sighed heavilly. She hated giving people bad news... Even if the person was a member of the Akatsuki. "You can't honestly say you didn't expect this. I mean, you're you're Akatsuki."

He smirked again, looking up to the ceiling. "Oh, that. So, I'm guessing we're in Konoha, yea?"

She nodded. "How can you act so casual? I mean, you're going to die."

"We're all going to die, yea. Sometimes, it just comes a little earlier than you want it to... Trust me, yea. I should know. I work with death everyday, yea."

"Still, you're not the least bit sorry?" asked Sakura, her brow furrowed.

He shook his head.

She stood, stretching. "You and I should get going."

"Where?"

"To tell Naruto and Kiba you're awake."

"Why do I have to go, yea?"

"You're bound to me, remember?"

She began to walk out of the suite. Once she was out the door, she heard Deidara yell, "what the hell, yea! Okay, this is so not cool!"

She laughed at Deidara, who was trying to run away, but was getting nowhere. He only slid on the floor as he slowly neared Sakura. "Told ya." she stated while giggling softly.

She went up to Kiba's door. A voice was heard on the other side of the door that made her freeze in her spot... It sounded like... No, it couldn't be! It was impossible! ... Wasn't it?

Had Sasuke really returned.

Inside, the voice she thought might be Sasuke was asking, "and what about Sakura? When is she going to find out?"

"The later the better." Naruto answered.

"You do realize she isn't going to take the news lightly, right?" asked Kiba. "She's going to have a cow!"

"That's why I needed to talk to her." replied that voice. "I have to talk to her before she freaks out..."

She knocked on the door. "Kiba? It's Sakura!"

"Sakura-chan!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Get out!" yelled Kiba.

"But- WAAAAAAAAAH!!!" that other voice yelled, sounding more and more distant.

"Guys?" she called. "Okay, I'm coming in!"

She opened the door to see... Kiba's and Naruto's rear ends in the air, their heads sticking out the window. "Oops..." commented Naruto...

"What are you two doing?"

Naruto jumped at the sound of her voice and yelped. The two pulled their heads back into the room and looked at Sakura and Deidara who looked really, really bored...

"Uh, hey, Sakura-chan..." Naruto greeted, rubbing his head.

Suddenly, the following was heard, "NARUTO!!! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU AND SELL YOUR INTERNAL ORGANS AND THAT STUPID BRAIN OF YOUR'S ON E-BAY!!!"

He smiled sheepishly and stuck his head outside again. "Thanks, Mom, I love you too!"

_'Naruto doesn't have parents...' _thought Sakura, her brow furrowing.

"Naruto, you don't have parents..."

He thought for two seconds and then exclaimed, "oh, yea! I forgot!"

Kiba slapped a hand to his forehead and shook his head in exhasperation.

"Who were you talking to before? Who was that that just threatened you?"

"Uh... I didn't hear anything." the brown-haired man lied. "What are you talking about?"

"That voice I heard..."

"You know, it isn't a good thing when you start hearing voices..." the blonde stated. "I highly suggest you get checked out for that..."

Kiba whispered loud enough for everybody in the room to hear, "she's crazy!"

Sakura growled slightly and turned, Deidara followed with no choice in the matter.

"You never told me your name's Sakura, yea." he commented. "Another reason to cally you Pinky."

"Shut up, Akatsuki." Sakura commanded, lying in her cot to think things through.

* * *

A/N: You know the drill by now... You review, I thank you privately through email and I thank you in the next chap... Please and thank you! n.n


	5. Truth

Retracing the footsteps of love

Itachilova101

Ch. 5

A/N: Thank you to Darkygirl, TheDevilsAngel93, blue-baka-ranger, Lady Blade WarAngel, Kakashi's Kutie and to manialoll stands on chakra.

* * *

A week had gone by. Sakura constantly fought with Deidara a lot, but knew they were slowly becoming friends.

Well, the door opened one day to show Kiba. He looked at the two and sighed. "Ibiki-san wants Deidara."

Sakura stiffened. "Already?"

"It's been a week. He wants some progress. The others have already been questioned, but they haven't gotten anything from them. They want Deidara now..."

She sighed and stood, Deidara mirroring her actions. She took him and Kiba and walked with them out of the apartment building. She walked with them toward the chambers where the interrogation would be held.

When they got there, Ibiki said, "thank you. You two can leave now..."

"Uh... He's bound to me..." she replied.

"She just likes me that much, yea." commented Deidara, winking at her. She knew he was trying to ease the tension that was building up in her.

Still... Ibiki was a master in torture. Deidara wouldn't know what hit him if he were to be interrogated by him...

"Then, take it off." he commanded. "You know the rules, Haruno-san. No unneccessary people are allowed in the room while interrogating."

"Blah, blah, blah..." Deidara said. "Are we going to do this, yea? You know, I have something important to do later..."

He was trying to break the ice... Well, maybe not... Maybe he was just being retarded like he usually was.

She smiled softly at him and realeased the binding jutsu.

"Ow... That hurt, yea." he commented, holding his shoulder where the seal had once been.

She whispered, "good luck."

She left the room and began to feel an odd chakra. Well, not odd, but familiar... She looked around and knew that the person would be nearby due to how strong she could sense his chakra. She looked around, but found nobody. She shook her head, telling herself she needed to get her head checked.

Voices that aren't real, people that aren't there... Next she's going to be talking to walls!

"Hello, Sakura..." she heard a voice say. She turned to face a wall.

_'Aw, Hell no!'_ she thought.

"Uh... Hello, Wall." she replied. Hey, when you've admitted you're insane, why not give into it?

In walked Ino, giggling.

_'Was she the chakra I sensed?' _she thought.

She shook her head and sighed.

"What's up?" asked the blonde.

"I'm going insane..." she answered.

Ino giggled. "Hearing voices yet?"

"Yea..."

Ino's face turned to one of confusion. "I... Was just kidding..."

"Greeeaaaat!" she exclaimed.

"Well, I've got to get back to the apartment. Shika-kun and Shino are waiting for me..."

She nodded and walked with her.

* * *

Sakura laid in her cot, waiting for the "ANBU-dudes, yea" as Deidara called them to bring said blonde back. The wait was getting excrutiating! How long was she expected to wait?

It had been three hours. Three... Whole... Hours! The possibilities of what could happen in those three hours were endless! Death, murder, suicide... Was it possible that the torture he'd have to endure was enough to kill him?

I mean, while Ibiki's doing all that torture crap, could some other person be digging his grave? It was a possibilty...

Then, she heard men on the other side of the door laughing. Was Deidara one of the people laughing? She listened more intently and knew he wasn't the one laughing...

The door swung open and three ANBU dumped Deidara's limp body on the hard ground. He was unconcious...

She gasped and ran to his side. "How can you be so cruel?! He's only human!"

"He's Akatsuki, that's how."

"He's Deidara-san!"

The ANBU laughed and left, leaving the door open.

She took her attention from the empty doorway to Deidara. She asessed his wounds to find nothing life-threatening. What was interesting, though, was that he had no injuries that could've made him go unconcious. It was senseless to give him a sleeping drug, so, what was wrong with him?

Then, she had some sort of sneaking suspicion. Something was telling her to open his eye... She did as so and opened his eyelid. Despite the light in the room, his eyes were so dilated that you couldn't see any of the colour. It was creepy...

Wait, she remembered seeing something like this before...

XOFlashbackXO

Sakura was ushered into the ER to treat a shinobi who'd just come back from an A-ranked mission. When she checked his pupils, they were so dilated, no colour could be seen in them...

She gasped. It was either he was dead, or he had been attacked by a very strong genjutsu or doujutsu... She could see he was breathing, so it was definitely the latter.

She heard the man croak out, "U-Uchiha... Itachi..."

She knew what the doujutsu was now... This was definitely the doing of Mangekyou Sharingan.

XOEnd FlashbackXO

She mumbled, "Kiba, that son of a bitch..."

She stood and went to Kiba's door. She tried to open it, but it was locked. She knocked on the door loudly and yelled, "Kiba! Open the goddamn door! NOW!!!!"

Kiba opened the door slightly and looked at Sakura. "What's up?"

"Don't 'What's up' me!" she commanded. "I saw Deidara-san's injury!"

"... Injury?"

"Don't play stupid with me, Kiba! You're hiding Sasuke somewhere, aren't you!"

"Sasuke? I really don't know what you're talking about." defended Kiba.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about!" she yelled angrilly. "I suspected it at first and now I'm sure! Deidara-san's been trapped in a very powerful doujutsu... The only doujutsu powerful enough to do the effects he has is Mangekyou! Where the hell is Sasuke!"

"Hey, Itachi has Mangekyou..."

"To captives can't be in the same room at the same time... That can cause the captives to create an escape plan and leave."

He sighed. "You're too smart, you know that? Sasuke, you can come out now."

Sasuke appeared from the closet. "Hello, Sakura."

* * *

A/N: Ooh, cliffy! Please review!


	6. Alive

Retracing The Footsteps Of Love

Itachilova101

Ch. 6

A/N: Okay, so my hands hurt today for some reason... So, I'm going to thank everybody that reviewed. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!

* * *

"Hello, Sakura." greeted Sasuke. 

"S-Sasuke..." replied Sakura, not surprised in the least. "It doesn't look like you've changed. Just a bit taller and longer hair..."

"Appearances can be decieving." he said, smirking. "You and I have changed more than eachother thinks."

She raised a brow. "Maybe I have, but you're probably still that aesexual, brother-obsessed loner you were all those years ago."

He chuckled sheepishly and brushed back some bangs. "I suppose I deserved that..."

"Ya think?"

"Let me guess, you snuck into the building and convinced Kiba and Naruto to let you hide out here?"

He shook his head. "No... I came back and Tsunade told me I could stay here. Everybody knew but you, actually. I wanted to tell you, but-"

"I have to go heal Deidara-san..." she interrupted, leaving. She felt so betrayed. How could everybody keep such an important secret from her when they all knew it was so important to her?"

She began healing Deidara, knowing Sasuke was in the doorway.

"So, how've you been since...?" he asked, letting his question trail off.

"Since you insulted me, hit me, made me go unconcious and left me on a bench?" she finished for him. "I've just been dandy... Never better, actually. How about you?"

He felt the sharpness in her voice, but wasn't too hurt. he knew he deserved it. "Did you... You know, date anybody?"

"Nope."

"Do you still love me?"

"Nope."

She knew he was trying really hard to actually make some sort of conversation, it was awkward for both of them. Still, she wasn't going to be nice to him after everything he'd done to her and everybody else. So, they could only stay in an uncomfortable silence.

As she continued to heal Deidara, she asked, "how'd you get Mangekyou?"

"It turns out that there was a hidden pathway to Mangekyou." he answered. "If an Uchiha with Sharingan has enough anger and hatred built up in them, they can, somehow attain it... Eventually."

"Why wouldn't anybody tell me about you?"

"They thought it would be best for you if you didn;t know." he told her. "The whole, 'What they don't know won't hurt them', theory. We all knew it would be hard on you emotionally."

"Maybe just a little." she replied sarcastically.

She'd finished all the healing she could do. Most of the internal damage from the hits and blows he may have received would have to heal on their own. She couldn't heal the effects of the Mangekyou or risk permanent damage... It would be long and hard for him, but he was going to live.

She stood and carried him to his cot. She turned back to Sasuke.

"It's been nine years, Sasuke." she stated. "Do you really think I was going to stay in that stupid crush that long? I was ignorant back then, but I'm not anymore... I know how to take a hint now."

"I'm sorry." he apologized. "I never wanted to hurt you the way I did. That's why I acted the way I did. So, you wouldn't be so hurt when I had to leave... You... You were leaving me with little choice then... I never wanted to hurt you, though..."

"Don't." she commanded. "Don't you dare stand there and try to hint that the feelings I felt for you back then were returned by you... They weren't and everybody knows that."

"But they were..."

"No, they weren't!" she snapped angrilly. "They never were! If you happen to want to use me to remake your clan, you're going to have to get another girl. I'm not going to do that. Never..."

"I don't want to use you. I'm just-"

"I think you should leave." she stated. "I've had enough and I have to help Deidara-san."

He sighed and left, going back to Kiba's room.

She sat on the edge of his cot and sighed, feeling more depressed than ever.

His face turned to one of pain and she directed some chakra to her hand and put the smallest bit to his head to relieve his pain. His face turned calm again and she smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry, Deidara-san..."

"Don't be so formal, Sakura, yea..." he mumbled.

"Y-You're awake?" she asked, stunned. Most people were out for at least a week or two before others even thought to hope they'd awake...

"Heh... Nothing get's me down, yea... I just woke up, yea." he answered, opening his eyes.

He attempted to sit up, but was pushed back down by Sakura. She looked into his puzzled eye and sighed sadly. "I'm sorry he did this to you..."

"Nah... It wasn't that bad. I've seen worse, yea."

She giggled happily and, before she could stop herself, she hugged him. He didn't hold her back, though. It was to be expected. He was an S-class criminal. He wasn't going to go hugging girls on a whim...

She sat back up and went back to her cot. He sat up with little signs that he was hurting and, eventually, stood. He went to the adjoining kitchen and got a drink. Of course, it was alchohol.

"Alchohol clears the mind, yea."

"No, it doesn't..."

"Mmm, close enough, yea."

She shook her head in amusement and sighed in relief. She was actually happy that he was alright! That was stupid considerring he was just going to die, anyway...

_'Oh, shit... I forgot about that...' _

* * *

A/N: Okay, well that's all I can think of right now... Please review! Ow... T.T my hands still hurt for some reason...


	7. Cry

Retracing The Footsteps Of Love

Itachilova101

Ch. 7

A/N: Wuv to all who reviewed :Big Hugs:!!!

* * *

Sakura hated this... She... _Liked _an S-class criminal! She _wanted _an S-class criminal! She was looking at the S-class she liked at that moment! He was sleeping... 

Obviously, he'd suffered more damage than he'd let on and had fallen asleep two days ago and hadn't woken since. She occasionally checked his vitals to be sure he was alive. He seemed perfectly healthy, except that he had suffered some trauma.

She wished he'd wake up... She wanted him to wake up so she had somebody to talk to.

Naruto was never there, so she was all alone with him and Sasuke hadn't come back since she'd told him to leave. Good riddance to him, then...

She saw Deidara's eyelids twitch slightly. Her heart skipped a beat and she watched him intently. Then, his eyelids stopped moving. She fell back into the cot and sighed heavilly.

Her mind went back to all those years ago and she thought about Sasuke.

She couldn't help but wonder what would happen if things were different... Did he really mean it when he said that her feelings were requited? Did he mean it when he said, "thank you"? Did he mean any of the things he'd ever said to her?

Thinking of this caused tears to well up in her eyes. She sniffled and let out a wavering sigh.

What she didn't know was that Deidara was, indeed, awake and was watching her with a sympathetic look on his face...

She rolled over so she was facing the wall and silently cried.

_'Damn you, Sasuke...'_ she thought.

Her shoulders shook with her silent sobs and she just wanted to crawl into a corner and die...

Why did he have to come back? Why did he have to leave in the first place? Why did he have to have such a huge impact on her? Why, why, why!

She heard the sound of somebody knocking on the door, but she ignored it. She didn't want to see or be seen. She only wanted to be alone... Alone... Wait, she already was alone.

She had nobody...

She heard the person on the other end try to open the door only to find it locked. She smirked spitefully. Good...

Then, she heard the lock click and the door open. Dammit... She forgot that Naruto had a key...

Not turning around, she asked, "what?"

"I need to ask you something." answered Sasuke.

"If you want to know an answer, go ask Orochimaru. You seem to trust him more than this village..."

He was silent.

She rolled over to face him and he noticed the tears on her face. He leaned over and whispered, "why are you crying?"

"I'm not..." she lied.

He smiled sadly. "Liar."

"What do you want?" she changed the subject.

"To know what I can do to make everything up to you."

"You can make it up to me by leaving me alone." she answered. "I don't want to have anything to do with you... Not anymore."

He looked hurt, but unsurprised. "If it's what you want, I guess I have no choice..."

She nodded and watched as he left. She looked to Deidara and saw his eyes cracked open slightly. She didn't bother to wipe the tears from her face and rolled so she was staring at the roof.

Damn Sasuke...

She cried as her face twisted into one of sorrow and she buried her face in her hands and sobbed, trying to stay silent, but failing. She gasped and sobbed as she cried and Deidara could only watch in pain as her already wounded heart tore into two once again...

* * *

A/N: Okay, so sorry for the shortness! This is all I can think of right now... I will try to update ASAP!


	8. Countries

Retracing The Footsteps Of Love

Itachilova101

Ch. 8

A/N: Thanks to who reviewed!

* * *

It was nighttime. Sakura and Deidara laid in their cots, trying to sleep. Neither of them could, though... 

"I need to ask you something, yea..." his voice sliced through the darkness.

"What is it?" asked Sakura.

"Who's going to be the person to... You know, finish the job, yea?"

"... Naruto..." answered Sakura sadly.

Deidara chuckled. "You looks so sad, yea... Did you want to be the one to kill me?"

She shook her head. "Of course not... I don't want you to die period... I mean-"

He nodded. "I know what you mean, yea..."

She smiled sadly and fell asleep. As did Deidara.

* * *

Sakura sat on the cot and looked at Deidara. He stared back. They'd been doing this for a while... How long, they didn't know. They just didn't dare take their eyes off of eachother...

Then, she blinked...

He smirked.

"Dammit all!" she cursed, giggling. "Okay, okay. Rematch. I won't blink this time..."

He chuckled. "But you've blinked the last twenty-two times, yea..."

"Lucky twenty-three..."

"You've said that since number seven, yea..."

"But-"

"Too bad, yea..."

"Ugh!" she scoffed, faking anger. "I hate you..."

"You know you love me, Pinky, yea. You can't resist my charm..."

"Riiiight..." she replied, giggling. She'd let him call her Pinky this once. The next time he said it, tough, there'd be hell to pay. "Come on, one more-"

"Shh..." he shushed her, his face becoming serious.

"What is-"

"Shh..."

She listened too and could hear yells and loud thunking sounds. They stole a glance to one another and ran out of the room. They raced toward the third floor, the floor Itachi was on.

Sakura had already guessed what was going on. It was Sasuke... Stupid Tsunade, keeping Sasuke in the same building with Itachi... What was she thinking?!

They got to the right floor to see Itachi and Sasuke, fighting eachother. Of course, Sasuke was losing, but didn't look like he was about to give up anytime soon...

"Sasuke..." she called with an indifferent tone. "What exactly are you doing? Didn't your parents ever teach you to play nice with your brother? Not go at him, looking for his life?"

"Go away, Sakura." he commanded, not looking at her, still fighting with his brother. "You have no business with this."

"Damn rights I do..." she corrected. "If you want to be accepted by this village again, or me, for that matter, you're going to have to give up with this stupid obsession you have with him... Incest isn't pretty. Just imagine what your kids would be like..."

Deidara chuckled.

Sasuke yelled, "get the hell out of here!"

She sighed. "I guess I'll have to do this the hard way..."

She did a few handsigns and did a paralysis jutsu. Both men stopped in their tracks.

"Are you two going to play nice now? Or will I have to play mother? God know you both need one..."

Deidara nearly burst out laughing, but stopped when Itachi sent him a death glare. "Sorry, Itachi-san..."

"Deidara-san, would you mind checking the rooms? I smell something fishy and I really don't think it's Kisame..." (A/N: Bad pun, I know)

Deidara did as told. He paused when he opened the door to the last room. "Uh, you might want to see this, yea..."

Sakura approached him and looked inside the room and saw Neji, Hinata, Tenten and Choji, all on the ground, unconcious.

She walked inside and checked their vital signs. They were all alive.

_'Thank God...' _thought Sakura.

She opened their eyelids to see the same sort of eyes Deidara had had.

"Mangekyou..."

"But didn't Itachi-san have that binding thing, too, yea?"

"Yea..." she answered. "I'm just as confused as you are..."

She stood and walked with him out of the room. She told hm to pick up Itachi while she picked up Sasuke. They headed to the floor where Kisame and his captors were. They left the two there.

"Hey! Look! It's the younger Uchiha!" exclaimed Kisame... He looked either drunk or drugged. She guessed the latter. He'd probably come back from interrogation."Deidara! Come have some fun with us!"

She sighed and took Deidara with her.

* * *

"Just tell me one thing." Sakura stated. "Why would you let those two stay in the same building at the same time? You must've known what would happen if they went searching for eachother..."

Tsunade answered, "it was two in the morning when he showed up. Besides, I was... Pre-occupied. I kind of forgot..."

"Let me guess... By, 'pre-occupied', you mean, 'drunk'?"

"I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer..."

Deidara smirked. "I like this old lady, yea! She knows how to have a good time!"

"I'll thank you not to speak, Akatsuki." Tsunade replied.

"I take it back! You aren't cool, yea!"

Sakura shook her head. "You two are getting off the point. What are we going to do with sasuke? He's using Mangekyou on innocent people!"

"Wanna kill him, yea?"

"Deidara-san!" snapped Sakura.

"No, no, just think, yea... You wouldn't have to live your life hating him, I don't have to capture him and the Hokage doesn't have to do any paperwork!"

Tsunade dawned an imaginative look on her face and smiled wistfully. "No paperwork, huh?"

"What is with you blondes and being insane!" Sakura exclaimed. "We're not going to kill him. Why don't we just lock him up?"

"Like, in Brazil, yea? Everybody's scared of Brazil, yea... I hear they eat their own young!"

"That's hamsters, you block-head..." Sakura corrected.

"Transylvania, yea? They have vampires..."

She sighed. "Vampires don't exist. No..."

Deidara thought for a few moments. "You know the scariest place, yea?" he asked. "Canada! With their all-the-time, 'eh', their zamboni's and their... Oh, I can't take it! Their... Saskatchewan!" (A/N: Hey! I don't live in Saskatchewan, but I do live in Canada! Hmph!)

"... I think Canada would be a bit too scary..."

"Fine, the US, yea?" asked Deidara. "Force him to meet George Bush. Everybody hates that guy! Now he's a blockhead!""Too evil." commented Sakura, becoming slightly annoyed.

"Then, what do you suggest, yea?"

"Here... In the actual prison?"

He shook his head, smirking. "That's absurd, yea! So absurd... It just might work..."

Sakura smirked. "You're insane..."

"Well, if he tries to escape, can we go to the US, yea? I've wanted to meet another guy that blows shit up..."

"Fine, if he escapes, we'll take him to meet Bush..."

* * *

A/N: Get it?! I loved that scene! XD Hope you did, too! Please review!


	9. Snore, yea

Retracing The Footsteps Of Love

Itachilova101

Ch. 9

A/N: Reviewers! Thank you:Glomps all those reviewers: Okay... So, I kind of lost my outline that I was working from, so I don't know how many ideas I'm going to have... Or how long the chapters will be... Until I get the shit back in order... So... Yea... Guess what this chapter is! I'm not going to say, but you'll see!

* * *

Sakura sat in her room, writing at a desk.

"Whatcha doin', yea?" asked Deidara.

"Something."

"What's something?" he asked, reading over her shoulder. "... Is this... A report, yea? Hey! That's my name, yea! Is this report on me? Whatcha sayin', yea? Did you say how I threw that temper tantrum and almost broke the window with that dildo?"

"... What dildo?"

"Oops... That was the dream I had last night, yea..."

She giggled and handed him the paper she was writing on. "Usually we aren't supposed to show the captives our report, but what the hell, right?"

He read through it and noticed the sentence saying, _"He can be a pain in the ass, but is, over-all, not-too-bad a captive". _

He smirked. "I knew ya loved me, Pinky, yea."

"What made you think that?" she asked, her face flushing. "I didn't say anything to make... You... Think..."

The look on his face made her stop... Why was he looking at her like... Why was he leaning towards her like he was... Why was he puckering his lips like that? ... Oh... He just kissed her... No big deal...

This was what was going on in her head, _"OMFG! OMFG! OMFG!"_

She was too surprised to do anything at first, but popped out of her surprise when his soft, perfect lips left her own... She could still feel his lips against her's... She looked at him, dumbfounded and he chuckled.

"Want another one, yea?" he asked.

Without another word or answer to his question, she pulled him into another kiss, deeper and more forceful...

He kissed back and held her in his arms, her hands resting on his chest...

Suddenly, he stopped kissing her and looked into her eyes. She lifted a hand and he flinched ever so slightly. She stopped, then started again... She pushed back his bang to show off a sort of camera.

"It's a scope, yea."

She smiled. "I like it..."

She pressed the button and heard a clicking noise. He chuckled at her surprised gasp.

"What do you use it for?" she asked. (A/N: I need filler, so, yea...)

"You don't want to here about this, yea." he told her. He leaned forward and kissed her again, playing with the ends of her hair. She undid his pulled back hair and ran her hands through it.

He chuckled again and stood up.

He walked over to his cot and laid down, covering himself up. "Night, yea..." And, just like that, he was asleep.

She walked over to him and poked him. "Hey." She poked him again. "Hey..."

"Snore, yea..."

She shook her head in amusement and punched him. She took a piece of his blanket and tugged on it. He asked, "you gonna wake up now?"

"Snore, yea."

"But-But..."

"I said, 'snore, yea'."

She pretended to pout and humphed. She punched him again and faced a wall, not leaving her spot on the floor.

He watched her sulk and chuckled silently. She was cute when she was angry...

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the shortness! T.T


	10. Death

Retracing the Footsteps of Love

Itachilova101

A/N: Thank you to all reviewers! Oh, and a not to Kutie, I loved the cookie! I am a cookie fiend! Always have been, always will be! You can just call me the Cookie Monster!!!

* * *

Sakura heard a phone ring... There was a phone in the room? She didn't know that! ... Dude, there'd been a phone in here the whole time and she could've talked to people instead of being totally bored! Damn karma... 

So, she picked it up. "Hello...?"

"Haruno, bring your captive to the chambers."

"Why?" she asked suspiciously. "Who is this?"

"Who do you think! It's Ibiki! Deidara needs to be interrogated again!"

"Okay, okay, you don't have to yell..." she stated. "God, and I thought Deidara-san was loud!"

"Why, you little-"

She hung up the phone.

"'Sup, yea?" asked Deidara. "What's going on?"

"You have to be taken in for interrogation again..." she answered cynically. "I don't want you to go... They're going to do worse to you than last time..."

"I'm not scared, yea."

"Well, I am."

He took her in his arms and kissed her passionately. He whispered in her ear, "what if I promise you I'll be okay, yea?"

"You and I both know you can't make that promise." she replied sadly. "You're going to be killed this time for sure. Ibiki-san isn't all sunshine and daisies. He will kill you!"

He told her, "I won't let him, yea."

"But-"

He put his fingers to her lips to quiet her. He smiled slightly and chuckled. He took her hand and led her out of the room and led her to the chambers. Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around...?

Ibiki looked at the two indifferently and told Sakura to undo the binding technique. She did as told and watched as he gave a goofy look to ease her fears. Still, it didn't work...

He could die... Die!

Well, he was going to die anyway, right...? ... ... ...

* * *

"God damn fucking shit!" exclaimed Sakura to the empty room. "Where the hell is he!"

It felt like it had been forever when it had only been... One hour.

Then, the door opened and in walked a casual looking Deidara with a few ANBU, but they quickly left. He looked paler and his smile wasn't so confident, but, other than that, he seemed okay. He was okay! ... Wasn't he?

"How was it? Are you okay? What did they do?" she asked, quickly approaching him.

His smile faltered for only a second. "I'm fine, Sakura, yea..."

"You... Called me Sakura." she whispered.

He smirked. He kissed her with more passion than ever before and held her in his arms.

"Are you sure you're alright? You're acting different."

He nodded.

She nodded, as well, not too convinced.

He went to his cot and fell asleep quickly.

What Sakura didn't expect was for him to not wake up for a week...

* * *

A week went by and Deidara hadn't awoken. She was becoming scared. She often checked his vitals. It was almost as if he was in a _very _deep sleep... Why wasn't he waking up.

Finally, she picked up the phone and dialed Ibiki's phone number... It rang a few times, then he finally answered.

"What the hell is wrong with Deidara-san!" she demanded."Why won't he wake up...?"

"He didn't tell you?" he asked. "We told him to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"We gave him baneful truth serum..."

"... WHAT!!!"

(A/N: For those that don't know, baneful means fatal. I looked it up! P)

"From the day he took it, he had three weeks to live."

She quickly asked, "what's the name of the truth serum?"

"Malefic thiopental sodium." he answered.

She hung up the phone to look at Deidara... She knew that drug...

She'd studied about certain drugs and had come across that one... Of course, she also knew how it worked and how to treat it... She walked over to him and checked out what stage he was at...

This particualr drug worked in stages; The first stage: A small amount of the serum would travel up to his brain and manipulate his sleeping patterns so he slept a lot; Second Stage: More serum would begin to travel to the heart; Third stage: The serum starts to clog the four stages of the heart; Fourth stage: The person goes into cardiac arrest and dies.

She could see that the serum was well into the second stage, going onto the third, which wasn't good, but it wasn't terrible either. It just meant she'd have to work a bit faster...

Of course she was going to help him! If she didn't she would have to watch him suffer and die! She couldn't let that happen! She had to do something!

She put some chakra to his brain and tried to terminate all the cells that were serum. When she'd done that, she was sure that Deidara would wake up any minute now... She just had to do the more dangerous part... Treating his heart.

She sent some chakra to his heart and began the treatment. She imagined herself in nothingness, holding his heart gently in her hands. She stared down at it as if it was a lost kitten. '_Such a fragile thing...'_

She began to terminate all the bad cells, still imagining this.

Soon, while she was still working, he awoke and looked at her. He asked, "how did you...?"

"You didn't think I'd find out? You go unconcious for a weak and you don't think I'd get worried?" she asked angrilly.

"You're angry, yea."

"Just shut up and let me save your life."

"Gladly."

So, she did just that. She used up most of her chakra in the process and fell unconcious...

* * *

A/N: Yet another cliffy...


	11. Gone

Retracing The Footsteps Of Love

Itachilova101

Ch. 11

A/N: Yay! Thank you to all who've reviewed! XD

* * *

Sakura waited for Deidara to wake up. She, somewhat wanted him to wake up, but, also, didn't want him to... She was going to give him some bitter-sweet news. She was going to help him escape. 

She'd released the binding jutsu and found a good trail that he could escape through. Of course, he'd have to use Transparency, but he would be able to escape.

Finally, his eyes cracked open and looked to her, smiling weakly. "Hey."

She sniffled, trying to make her tears subside. He sat up and asked her, "what's wrong, yea? Why are you crying?"

"... I- I need you to do something for me." she told him.

"Anything, yea."

She helped him stand and walked with him toward the window. "I want you to conceal yourself, jump out this window and run away. Go back to Akatsuki."

His smile fell and he looked at her as if she was crazy. "But-"

"No, Deidara-san. Please..."

He kissed her and asked, "why, yea?"

"Because I don't want you to die. I want you to live. Would you? For me?"

"No..."

She began crying even harder. "Why not?"

"Because, I don't want you to die because of me. If I leave, you're coming with me, yea."

She hugged him and told him, "I can't."

"If I can, you can, Sakura."

She ran a hand through her hair and thought this over. She looked into his eyes and finally told him, "go on without me. I'll catch up with you."

He smiled and nodded.

When he left, she let out her pain-filled sobs. She felt so bad, but she had to lie to him... It was the only way to save him...

She was fairly certain that she'd never meet Deidara again, but it was worth it... At least she'd helped to save his life... But for how long? How long would it be until somebody else captured him and didn't fall for his charms? He'd most likely die!

She sniffled and looked out the window. He was gone... Gone and out of her life forever...

* * *

Three years later, Haruno Sakura was partly over losing her dear, dear Deidara, but still missed him greatly. She thought of him incessantly and often dreamed of him. She always wished she could see him again. 

Of course, she'd came up with some Bullshit lie about how he managed to escape somehow so she didn't get into too much trouble. Tsunade wasn't too happy to hear it, though.

She slowly, very slowly, forgave Sasuke. She didn't very much like him still, but was finding that her nice side would kick in when he came around. Though she didn't really like him, she tolerated him.

She had changed a lot since the day Deidara left. She was a lot more reserved than before. She rarely went out for social gatherings and didn't like it when people put her on the spot. She wasn't very social at all.

Everybody noticed this, but didn't ask about it. They weren't sure what was wrong with her, but knew it was nothing far too dangerous to her, or anybody else's, health.

But, all of the "new Sakura" was about to have another huge change. She was about to have a huge road block put in her life and it was one that she might not be able to pass unscathed.

She was assigned to a mission with Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi. They all had to go investigate the Akatsuki base. Apparently, a group of shinobi from Hidden Sand had killed off all that was left of the infamous organization.

Of course, Sakura was crushed when she'd found out, but didn't let anybody know about how hurt she was. She only looked indifferent and apathetic when she was with others.

So, she was heading out for her mission, trying to keep herself from going insane with misery about losing Deidara for good... She left the house, her face turning to one of nothingness. She walked toward the border alone. Once she got there, she waited for the others to show up.

They greeted her one by one and she replied to all of them with a singal nod.

"Shall we be off?" asked Kakashi.

Everybody nodded and they all took off toward the Akatsuki base.

* * *

A/N: Okay, this is very short. I just wanted to stretch this story out more. The next chapters will be longer, I promise!


	12. Gettogether, Sort of

Retracing The Footsteps Of Love

Itachilova101

Ch. 12

A/N: Thanks to all who've reviewed!

* * *

Sakura took the lead as the four ran through the forest toward Earth Country.

They thought it would be fairly easy for whoever wiped out the Akatsuki because there had only been six members left, Sasori, Itachi and Kisame being killed years before.

So, they only had to walk around the base and the mission would be over.

"Sakura, Naruto and I will scout around the building. Sasuke, you keep guard outside." Kakashi commanded.

"Um, Kakashi-sensei, can I be the one to keep guard?" Sakura asked.

"Uh, okay, sure." he answered.

She just didn't want the nostalgea creeping on her while on this mission. Not on this one... It had done that on other missions, but this one was different... Far too different.

So, she kept guard by running through the trees. Then, she felt something... That familiar feeling she'd gotten that last day she'd seen Deidara.

Even though the binding jutsu was released, she could still tell when he was nearby. Whenever she travelled near Earth Country, she was able to feel when he was nearby... Until he died, that is.

So, how was this happening? She shrugged it off as her mind getting the best of her and continued to keep guard.

Then, she heard something... A whisper of a voice saying, "Sakura... Sakura..."

She ignored it, trying to keep her mind on task. Then, she felt a new weight on the branch she was on. She didn't want to turn around, but had to. She turned around to see Deidara.

"No... You're dead..." she whispered. "You're dead."

"You never came back, yea." he told her. "Why?"

She walked backward until she hit the side of the tree. He followed every step she took. He was only milimeters from her and stared into her eyes. "Miss me, yea?"

"I-I.."

"Why are you so surprised, yea? You didn't honestly think I could die that easily, did you?"

"You would've died if I didn't save you."

"You remember, yea?" he asked me.

"How could I forget?"

"You never caught up with me that time you said you would." he answered. "I thought maybe you forgot, yea."

"I couldn't follow you. I just couldn't. If I did, you would definitely die."

"I don't care if I die. I'm only alive so I could see you when your team came to check out this place, yea."

"But-"

"Shh." he interrupted. He leaned closer to her and kissed her passionately. "I'll be seeing you, yea."

With that, he disappeared. She could feel that feeling she'd had slowly disappear. She burst into tears and burried her face in her hands.

"Sakura-chan?" called Naruto, appearing on the branch. "What's wrong? What happened?"

She sniffed and wiped away her tears, going back to her normal self. "Nothing. Did you find anybody?"

"Nothing. I guess they really are dead."

She nodded and didn't mention that Deidara was alive. They took off, meeting with Kakashi and Sasuke. They headed back to Konoha.

* * *

Sakura awoke one morning to see a certain somebody standing in her doorway. He asked, "they think I'm dead, yea. Now you can come with me."

"No, I can't. I have obligations to uphold to."

"As did I once, yea."

"I'm not like you. I can't abandon my home that easily. You know I can't."

His smirk never faltered. "You've changed, yea. You used to be more... What's the word, yea? You weren't so bold then, yea."

"Time changes all, Deidara-san."

He sighed. "I'll be back, then, I suppose."

She watched as he disappeared again.

God, would he just leave her the hell alone?!

* * *

A/N: I don't very much like this chapter... Please review!


	13. Eachother

Retracing the footsteps of love

Itachilova101

Ch. 13

A/N: Thanks to all who've reviewed! I am so sorry for how crappy last chapter was! I was in a bit of a rush to get it out, so, yea... I hope this one's better...

* * *

Sakura couldn't take it anymore! She desperatrely missed Deidara so much! She wanted to be with him, be held by him, feel his lips on her own again... She wanted him, plain and simple!

She just wanted to see him... She was just going to leave, see him, kiss him, then leave again. She would have self-control and would leave despite his commands for her to stay with him.

One problem, though... Where was he? He obviously wouldn't be in that old base. Since those rumours about Sand killing off the last of the Akatsuki, several villages had been going to see if it was true. He was too smart to stay there.

Okay... All she had to do was say that she was going out to... Um... Visit some friends outside the village and she would go find him, see that he was alright and she would leave... She would leave, wouldn't she? She had to! She had obligations!

"Okay, I'm off..." she told the empty room as she walked out of the house. She ran out of the village and headed toward the general area the Akatsuki base was in. He might've stayed somewhere near there.

* * *

Sakura could feel that feeling of when Deidara was nearby. She stopped her running and closed her eyes, trying to find the direction he was in... He was close... Very close... She could feel he was about Southwest of Earth Country where she was just East of it. She turned in the direction she thought she should be running in and nearly ran into somebody's chest.

She looked up to see the face of Deidara. Well, she knew he was close. She just didn't know how close...

"Hey. Looking for somebody, yea?"

"I-I..." She was at a loss for words.

She was so confident before. She felt that she could be in control of the situation and turn her back on him whenever she wanted or needed to... But now that he was standing before her, his hands on her shoulders, his eye staring at her like that, all hope of being able to leave dissolved into the silence that clinged to the two as they looked at eachother.

"Sakura... Are you going to say something, yea?" he asked, chuckling.

Uh, erm... Um... Duh... Hmm..."

Deidara chuckled again and asked, "are you here for somebody, yea?"

She nodded, not able to truust her voice.

"Are you here for me, yea?"

She nodded again, blushing.

Heis smirk widened and he kissed her cheek. "I knew you'd come around sometime... Let's walk, yea."

So, they started to walk around.

Finally, Sakura could think coherently and she asked him, "so, where are you staying now?"

"Oh, I'm between residences at the moment. Since Suna had attacked the base, I haven't been dumb to go to any of the other bases, yea. So, I've just been living free, yea."

"I see..."

"I know you aren't here to reacquaint yourself with me, yea. What are you here for?"

"I just... Wanted to see you. See that you're alive..." she answered. "I was worried about you these last few years."

"Heh, well, at least now I know you aren't a robot, yea..."

"What made you think that?"

"You were all weird when I saw you that day, yea. Like you didn't have a mind of your own anymore..."

"Well, I just missed you. That's all..."

"Are you actually going to stay, yea?"

"I..." She was about to say no when she saw his hopeful look. It tugged on her heart and made her stomach churn. "I... Okay, I'll stay with you."

He stooped and she stopped with him. "You aren't lying this time are you, yea?"

She took hold of his Akatsuki cloak, near his waist and clenched it in her fist. It was now tug or not to tug? That was the question... Needless to say, she tugged. She pulled him closer to her and kissed him as he took her in his arms. When their lips parted, he didn't let her go.

"Does that answer your question?"

He kissed her again, more feverishly and held her tightly in his arms.

It would be easy for the two to say that they looved eachother, but neither of them dared to say so.

They began to run off together, their hands holding eachother tightly.

At that moment, they didn't care if anybody from Konoha tracked them down. They were happy and in love. They'd retraced the footsteps they had once made in the path of love and found eachother in the process.

They didn't need anything else...

* * *

A/N: Okay, so I think this is the last chap... Wow... This one took a while... Thank you to all who've reviewed and I hope to see some of you in some of my other works... Ja ne hopefully not for the last time!


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